It's the second year in a row Buffett's wealth has jumped by $10 billion, even as begins to give away lots of money to charities, notably the Gates Foundation.

Gates falls to number three this year with $58 billion, behind Mexico's Carlos Slim, who is number two with an estimated wealth of $60 billion. Forbes says Gates would have been "as rich -- or richer -- than Buffett" if Microsoft's stock hadn't dropped sharply after it unsolicited bid for Yahoo last month.

Last summer and fall, several publications, including the Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine called Slim the "world's richest man" due to the soaring value of Mexican stocks he holds, including Telefonos de Mexico and America Movil . In October, Forbes informally declared Slim and Gates to be in a "virtual tie" for the title of World's Richest Person.

Mexican stocks, however, have faded in recent months, giving Buffett an opening.

To be totally honest, while I thought and wrote yesterday that Buffett could give Gates and Slim a good "run for their money," I expected the answer to my headline question to be 'no' with Buffett falling to third.

Instead, he's number one on the list that comes closest to being the 'official' scorecard for the super-rich.

That should give all the Buffett fans heading to Omaha something to celebrate at Berkshire Hathaway's annual "Woodstock for Capitalists" two months from now.